Soybeans, rows and rows of soybeans all around. In western Paraguay
the fields that were once thick rain forests are now soybean
plantations. They stretch far into the distance swaying hypnotically
back and forth in the wind. This ocean of soy, though, is dotted
with small islands--houses, actually, that belong to the subsistence
campensinos who once eked out a living farming an array of crops like
sugar, cotton, wheat, and maize. But now there is only industrial
harvested soy. And pesticides.
Soybeans, of course, have a very good reputation in the West (think tofu
and biofuels), but the reality is they have damaging repercussions in
developing nations where environmental laws are lax and local
populations are exploited by multinational corporations. Right now,
this is happening in Paraguay, the world's fastest growing soybean
producer.

Program Credits

The Soybean Wars was produced by Charles Lane, and mixed by Jared Weissbrot. Special thanks to the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting.

Resources

Links:Denounciation of growthA group of farmers march in the Paraguayan capital rejecting the country's claims of economic growth